Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers still awaiting payment for ACRES for 2023 and 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13629/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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A total of €247.4 million has been paid to 42,631 participants (25,537 General and 17,094 Co-operation), or 95% of all ACRES participants, in respect of their participation in the Scheme in 2023. A further 2,302 farmers have yet to receive their final payments for 2023. Of these, 2,008 have already received an interim payment of either €4,000 or €5,000, respectively, which in many cases will cover the entire payment due.

As regards 2024 payments, I can confirm that advance payments totalling €193.5 million have now been paid to 44,939 farmers in respect of their participation in ACRES in 2024. This number of recipients represents 83% of all ACRES participants. Advance payments in respect of scheme participation in 2024 have still to be made to 9,316 ACRES participants across the two tranches.

Certain issues such as transfers of contracts, late or non-submission of scorecards, and alignment of ACRES information with data held by the Department on other IT systems, have contributed to the delay in the making of those payments.

My Department is actively resolving the remaining issues through, for example, the development of the required IT functionality, the re-allocation of resources and the investigation of issues associated with specific contracts. It is also important to note that not all outstanding payments are caused by delays within my Department, as in some cases, action is required by the participant to progress the payment claim. Pay runs are taking place every 10 days in order to ensure that these payments are issued in a timely manner as cases pass the required validations.

My Department will be issuing regular online updates over the coming period on the progress being made, with the overarching objective of having all outstanding payments in respect of farmers’ participation in ACRES in 2023 and 2024 made by the end of June.

I can assure you that everything is being done to pay, as soon as possible, all ACRES participants who clear pre-payment checks.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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128. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to address issues with the ACRES payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13486/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or "ACRES" as it is more commonly known, is the first scheme of its kind to upscale results-based payments to a national level. The implementation of such an ambitious and innovative scheme is a significant change in the way agri-environmental schemes are delivered, and this change has come with complexities and challenges.

As of March 21st, almost €441 million has been paid out to farmers in respect of their participation in ACRES. Of this figure €247.4 million has been paid to 42,631 participants (25,537 General and 17,094 Co-operation), or 95% of all ACRES participants, in respect of their participation in ACRES in 2023. In addition, 83% of participants have now been paid their advance payment in respect of their participation in the Scheme in 2024.

There is significant work involved in the verification of payment claims, and in the calculation and issuing of payments to over 54,000 participants. Most of these applications consist of a number of actions, or there may be a number of different habitats to be assessed, and multiple scorecards to be completed and submitted. As is the case with all EU co-funded schemes, claims for payments under ACRES must pass regulatory controls and validations before payment can issue.

Certain issues such as transfers of contracts, late or non-submission of scorecards, and alignment of ACRES information with data held by the Department on other IT systems, have contributed to the delay in the making of some payments.

My Department is actively resolving the remaining issues through, for example, the development of the required IT functionality, the re-allocation of resources and the investigation of issues associated with specific contracts. It is also important to note that not all outstanding payments are caused by delays within my Department, as in some cases, action is required by the participant to progress the payment claim.

I can assure you that my Department is continuing to progress the contracts awaiting final payment in respect of 2023 and/or advance payment in respect of 2024, with the target of having as many as possible cleared by June 2025. As cases are resolved, they are added to the next scheduled pay run. Pay runs are taking place every ten days in order to ensure that these payments are issued in a timely manner.